Lauren had been packing and double-checking everything making sure she left things settled for her trip. Today was the day she was leaving for New York; she was going to be gone for 5 days. This had been the longest she was going to be apart from Emma and she was nervous. She couldn't explain why because both Matt and Amy were going to be there with her, but she called it a mother's sense.
"Do you have everything you need?" Amy asked her sister. Lauren nodded and kept going through her stuff. "Here" Amy handed her a set of keys and a paper with a series of numbers.
"What's this?" Lauren said examining the keys.
"The keys for the apartment. I'm not going to let you stay in a hotel much less with Liam when no one is using the place." Amy stated, "If you need to go anywhere there's a Range Rover in the garage, the keys should be on the counter top."
Lauren placed the keys in her purse. "Thanks Amy."
"Please call me if anything happens." Lauren was telling Matt and Amy. They looked like two teenagers when their parents were about to leave for a trip.
"Yes mom." Both of them replied and the same time their sense of humor was almost identical. When they wanted to push Lauren's buttons they would join forces and drove Lauren crazy.
Lauren shook her head in disapproval, " I swear sometimes I think Emma is more mature than you two."
"Hey, show some respect. You just don't understand our awesomeness." Matt grinned and gave her a long kiss and Lauren grinned right back.
Lauren picked Emma from the floor, "Mommy's going to miss you." She kissed her cheek and forehead. "I love you. Can mommy get a kiss?"
"I love you." Emma babbled back and gave her mother a kiss.
Matt and Lauren headed to the airport and Amy had offered to take Emma to day care.
About four hours later Lauren had finally landed in New York. She texted Amy and called Matt letting them know she had arrived safely. She then called Karma to tell her where she was going to be staying. Lauren then got to the condo and waited for Karma. Approximately 30 minutes later Karma got there.
"I can't believe you're here." Karma said delighted hugging Lauren and entering the condo.
"I know right."
They sat down in the couch. "I can't believe you have a condo in New York. That's insane." Karma declared.
"Actually, its not mine. Its Amy's." Lauren corrected, "She bought it a few months ago because she's been traveling back and forth offering and receiving medical seminars. She thought it was a good investment."
Karma was amazed to hear this because the condo was a 20-minute drive from her and Liam's apartment. All this time Amy has been traveling to New York and their paths had never crossed. "Makes sense. She's really wealthy isn't she?"
Lauren nodded. Amy had been doing so great for her young age, but she never did allow all of her wealth get to her head. Lauren was doing great too with the shop and because Matt's law firm was one of the most respected firms in the state. "So where's Liam?"
Karma shrugged her shoulders; "I think he had a meeting with some partners from Skwerkel." She really didn't speak to Liam unless it was necessary. "So your ready to go exploring?"
"Let me use the bathroom real quick and were out."
Karma looked around the place. The apartment was modern; it looked like nobody had lived there. She kept exploring when she saw something that caught her eye. Karma saw her paintings she had exposed for the museum in New York four years ago. The museum director had told her that an anonymous buyer had outbid all of the interested clients by a long run, but she had never in a million years expected to find out that the buyer was Amy. Karma felt a sort of happiness to see that Amy still cared about her enough to buy her paintings. After all, Amy always said to her that she was her biggest fan. This made it clear.
"I never thought Amy was a fan of art." Lauren entered the living room interrupting Karma's train of thoughts.
Both of them decided to go out and explore Manhattan like tourists. Karma showed her Times Square and Lauren got to see most of the landmarks from Manhattan.
Back in Dallas, Amy, Matt and Emma were watching a documentary about the World War II. Those two had the same interests when it came to watching TV. They were grateful that Emma seemed to enjoy watching documentaries too. She would stay glued to the TV; they sincerely couldn't believe how she'd choose that over some cartoon.
"Lauren told me about what happened with Lindsay. Are you sure you don't want to press charges?" Matt questioned. They've grown closer over the years; it was like he gained a sister.
Amy shook her head. "I don't want to add more fuel to the fire and honestly I don't think Lindsay pull another stunt like that. She just needed to vent and let it all out and she had her chance."
He contemplated her answer, "I guess you're right."
In the evening Amy made dinner for the three of them and they all went back to watching Netflix until they were drowsy.
The next day Lauren was going to have dinner at Karma and Liam's place. This will give her a chance to meet Liam's family. Lauren left to Karma's condo earlier because she got bored, she was used to being in a full house.
"Do you want anything to drink?" Karma offered. Lauren shook her head. Karma's phone rang. "I'm sorry I have to take this." Karma stepped out to talk over the phone. She was gone for a while, Lauren phone began ringing it was a FaceTime from Amy. She answered rapidly. In a matter of moments she saw her daughter smiling when she saw her mother.
"Mommy!" Emma exclaimed.
Lauren was beaming with happiness. "Hi baby. Are you missing me?"
Amy was holding her and whispered to Emma what to say. "I miss you." Emma repeated what her aunt had told her.
"How's everything over there?" Lauren asked.
"All good. Actually we were calling you to inform that certain person right here went to the bathroom all by herself." Amy informed Lauren, who couldn't stop smiling.
"What? She picks the week I'm not there to do it." Lauren smiled.
"Don't worry we recorded it Matt and I knew you would want to see it." Amy mentioned. "What have you been up to?"
"Not much. Yesterday Karma took me out to see the city and today I'm at Liam and Karma's apartment because were having dinner with his family." Lauren revealed.
"Nice, that's really nice. Well I guess we'll talk later. We don't want to interrupt." Amy said saying her goodbyes. Right before hanging up Karma showed up. Karma got to hear the last response from Amy.
"Everything alright? You were gone for quite some time." Lauren asked Karma as Karma sat down in the couch.
"Yeah, that was Caroline, Liam's mother bombarding me with all the wedding planning details." Karma responded. She was not at all interested in all her mother in law had to say. "Anyways whom were you talking to?"
"That was Amy and Emma calling to tell me that Emma is now officially potty trained." She stated proudly.
"Congratulations. You must me so ecstatic." Karma inferred.
"I can't believe she's getting so big." Lauren mentioned.
After this conversation concluded Liam arrived. He greeted Lauren warmly. He then moved in to kiss Karma. She went along with it because she didn't want to let Lauren know something was not right. As the dinner progressed Lauren studied Karma's conduct towards Liam. When she was dating Amy, Karma always was holding her hand and stealing kisses from Amy. However, right now Lauren has noticed Karma very cold towards Liam. She assumed that Karma and Liam's relationship had fallen into monotony and that they rarely had time for each other. She barely saw Karma smile throughout the whole dinner. Lauren's head flashed back to when often she visited Amy and Karma was there. Their chemistry was undeniable it seemed effortless, unlike with Liam. Every time she got to witness Karma and Amy interact, Lauren always got jealous because prior meeting Matt she her luck with dating wasn't very good. She wanted to find that special person who would make her feel all that Amy and Karma felt when they were together. This relationship had something wrong with it and Lauren was determined to get to the bottom of this.